A new strain of coronavirus identified in the United Kingdom is up to 70 per cent more infectious but it is not thought to be more deadly and vaccines should still be effective, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and scientists said, reported Reuters.

Johnson and England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said the variant strain had been discovered through Public Health England’s genomic surveillance and it was now confirmed that it spread more easily than the original version.

“There’s no evidence that it causes more severe illness or higher mortality, but it does appear to be passed on significantly more easily,” Johnson told a news conference to announce tougher lockdown restrictions for millions of people.

Britain’s Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance said Covid-19 vaccines appeared to be adequate in generating an immune response to the variant of the coronavirus.

Vallance said in parts of England, including London, the southeast and east of England, the new variant was becoming the dominant form.